


Blind Date

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders' Era, Pre-Slash, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 20:45:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5942533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius prepares for a big, important date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blind Date

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

There was nothing at all unusual about Sirius Black having a date, but Remus couldn't remember the last time he'd been so damned happy about one. For the better part of a week, his friend had been operating in a happy little daze and everything he did from the potion he was brewing to the strategic holes he left in Snape's clothes seemed to have just a little bit more pizzazz to it. And for the King of Flair that was saying a lot.

Everyone couldn't help but notice that Sirius was practically walking on air, but whenever he was asked about it, the only thing the inquirer got in return was a small, secretive little smile. An acutely annoying little smile.

Remus was happy for his friend, really he was, but he wished that the other wasn't being so frustratingly closed-mouthed about it. Sure they had gone through some rough times and things had been strained for quite a while, but he had thought that they had gotten to the point where they could share the important details of their lives again. It was saddening to think he was wrong.

"What do you think of this sweater?" asked Sirius as he barged into the room that the four friends shared, early that Saturday morning.

The sweater in question was a deep sapphire blue and it brought out the flecks of color in Sirius' otherwise dark eyes, but Remus didn't tell him that. It also clung to him in the most fascinating of ways. "It's nice," he said quietly, thinking that it had been a sound investment when he bought that as a gift for Sirius, though he didn't tell him that either.

Nice," the black-haired boy murmured to himself, his eyes holding a dreamy, faraway look as his mind raced away at lightning speed with plans for tonight. It was undoubtedly a very special day for Sirius. There was so much to do and he wanted, no he needed everything to be absolutely perfect. Tonight was the kind of night that dreams were made of, where one could find their destiny and fulfill their deepest desires. His future happiness could very well depend on the outcome of the evening's events so he'd best stack as many cards as he could in his favor.

He turned back to the smaller boy. "As you know I have a very important date tonight." Remus rolled his eyes at that, but Sirius pretended not to see as he continued talking. "But, I can't decide whether to go with a fun, trick theme or a romantic, serious one."

Remus considered the question carefully and though he was tempted to lie, he answered as truthfully as he could. "If the person is like one of us," referring to the four lads who were best friends, "then you might want to go with a fun night." All the guys loved jokes and were notorious pranksters. "However, if you're trying to make a statement, and judging by your attitude I think you are, then you should go with the romantic idea."

Sirius mulled over that bit of advice for a moment before he smiled that easy grin of his and thanked Remus for his help. He didn't bother to inform his friend about his decision, which Remus had known the secretive prat wouldn't, and was about to leave when he turned and pinned the younger boy with calculating eyes.

The other never had a chance.

\+ + +

With more force than was truly necessary, Remus placed the expensive bottle of wine that Sirius had somehow smuggled into Hogwarts into the picnic basket that Sirius had retrieved from god knows where. For some reason, and Remus wasn't quite sure how it had happened, a certain silver-tongued Gryffindor had roped him into being his little errand boy and so there he was preparing for a date that he wasn't even going on.

"Stupid, idiotic moron!" Remus muttered under his breath, and he wasn't sure whether he was referring to himself or Sirius. He really needed to learn how to say no to that charming rogue.

The love struck boy had led him to his chosen site for the date and given him vague parameters to follow, but neither the methods nor the means to accomplish what he asked for. Remus had had to think frantically, running all over the school looking for supplies and Hogwarts was hardly the perfect source for romantic paraphernalia

He had spent the afternoon cleaning out an old, little-used classroom because 'Sirius' didn't want his date to suffer through a 'dingy evening'. He had spread out soft blankets to 'make things more comfortable' and had placed dozens of candles in strategic spots to 'set the mood.' By the end, when he was hot, sweaty, and incredibly irritable, Remus was tempted to sabotage the luscious spread he spied inside the picnic basket's depth and the only thing that stopped him was the blindingly bright sparkle in Sirius' eye when he spoke of his date.

As much as he wanted to get back at Sirius for his sly maneuverings, this was too important to the other boy for Remus to seriously consider ruining. But Remus was a boy blessed with a patient nature and he would bide his time and wait for the perfect opportunity for payback. And it would come; if one looked hard enough it always did.

The door to the room flung open suddenly and a positively giddy Sirius Black bounded into the classroom turned scene for seduction. He folded his arms across his chest and cast appraising eyes around the room before finally settling them on Remus in approval. "This looks fantastic Moony, if I do say so myself. Once again I've come up with a great idea."

Remus' eye twitched at the look of smug self-congratulations on his friend's face and his fingers fairly itched to remove it. Stalking up to Sirius, he opened his mouth to tell him exactly what he was full of. "Your idea? You bloody - "

But the cyclone that was Sirius Black was too busy wreaking havoc to listen to the concerns of mere mortals. He interrupted Remus, going off on a completely different tangent, and like some simple bovine creature, Remus was once again sucked into Sirius' dizzying magnetism.

The next thing Remus knew he was being propelled out the door and told to take a shower because, "God Remus, you're covered in grime and you kinda smell."

"What do you expect when I've just cleaned a room that probably hasn't been washed in a decade?" he had retorted, but nonetheless left to bathe because he wasn't too fond of dirt himself.

"Could you come back after twelve and help me clean up?"

A grunt was all Remus could manage as he trudged away in disgust at himself, because although he didn't want to, he knew he'd be up there promptly after the stoke of midnight just as Sirius had asked.

He saw that it was six o'clock when he glanced at his watch, exactly two hours until Sirius' mysterious date. Remus really did hope that it all went well for him, because he was sure to get his pound of flesh from Sirius for working him like a dog as soon as this was all over and done with.

Walking into the Gryffindor common room, he was greeted by James and Peter sitting in a pair of comfortable chairs. They took one look at him and shared a knowing look.

"So Sirius got to you too," James said matter-of-factly. He held up a prettily wrapped box for Remus' inspection. "I had to run down to Honeydukes and pick up a box of chocolates."

"He made me iron his slacks," Peter chimed in.

They both looked him up and down and grinned. "But it looks like he got you the worst."

Remus grumbled a bit and listed all the things he had done in order to end up in this state, and by the end of his rant his two friends were shaking their heads in sympathy.

"I wonder what he was doing while we were running about doing his bidding," Remus mused aloud.

"Probably lounging around somewhere, laughing his head off as his pathetic friends did all his work for him," James stated and Peter nodded in agreement. It was all too easy to imagine Sirius doing exactly that.

Feeling better now that he knew he wasn't the only one who had been put to work, Remus waved goodbye and continued on his way up the stairs and further into the tower. He stopped by their room to grab a change of clothes and all his toiletries before walking to the showers, looking forward to a long, hot one.

Scrubbing himself until he was pink all over, he stayed in the shower a few minutes longer, just enjoying the warm spray of water as it cascaded on his head and down his back. It was with great reluctance, and pruny skin, that he eventually shut off the water and toweled himself dry.

Leisurely hands grabbed at the clothes he had set out and Remus pulled on the clean garments with a sound of pleasure. He meandered back to their room looking forward to a relaxing evening with a beloved novel before he had to get up and help Sirius again.

The need for his help though, came sooner than expected when he opened the door and he caught sight of a dozen exquisite yellow roses sitting on Sirius' bed. He had noticed them when he had walked in earlier, but had figured that Sirius would be by soon to pick them up. Well, he must have forgotten because Remus' watch told him it was ten minutes before eight and the other boy was nowhere in sight.

Grabbing the flowers, Remus bounded down the steps to the common room, but none of his friends, and most importantly Sirius, were there. He tore out of Gryffindor tower and ran to the date location, hoping to leave the flowers there before Sirius and the object of his affection arrived.

A sigh of relief escaped from him when he cautiously opened the door and found the room empty. He was just about to set the bouquet of roses down when his eyes finally caught up with his head and he took in the sight before him.

Remus had thought that it looked nice before, but even though it was basically the same setup, this was a million times better. The candles had been lit and the food had been spread out enticingly and everything looked so much more intimate and welcoming in the night- darkened room. Soft classical music drifted in from somewhere along with a soft breeze from the open window that overlooked the huge expanse of grounds that made up the school.

Together, he and Sirius had covered nearly everything. There was good food, good music, good lighting, and a good view. There were chocolates and wine and roses and how could anyone not fall for all of this. It was the perfect date.

And it wasn't for him.

"Remus?" a voice spoke out questioningly from behind him and he turned to see Sirius standing at the door. He was dressed to the nines in the sweater he had picked out earlier and freshly pressed slacks. Remus didn't think he had ever looked so good.

"Sirius, I didn't hear you come in. . ." Remus trailed off uncertainly, thrusting the flowers into the other's hands to mask his awkwardness.

Sirius smiled a lopsided smile at him. "Oh, you brought me flowers. You shouldn't have," he cooed.

"Yes, well. . .y - you left them and. . ." And now he was stammering like a twit and he had no idea why. It was only Sirius for heaven's sake.

Sirius set the bouquet down the way Remus had been planning to and would have done had he not been so easily distracted. He really wished that he had because then maybe he wouldn't be standing here so nervously with a puzzling sense of disappointment sitting uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach.

"Would you like something to eat Remus?" Sirius asked him in an offhand manner, gesturing to the feast at their feet.

The food did look good and Remus spied many of his favorite dishes, but his insides were in so many knots that he didn't think he could eat a single bite. And besides, the food wasn't meant for him. "Isn't that food for your date?"

Sirius settled on the edge of the blanket, pulling Remus down beside him. "Yes it is," was all he said.

Pulling a corkscrew from out of the basket, he opened the chilled bottle of wine and poured two glasses of burgundy liquid. He proceeded to deliver one to Remus.

Remus looked down dumbly at the goblet that had found its way into his hand. "Isn't this wine for your date too?"

The look Sirius shot him was full of exasperation. "Yes it is."

"Oh. So why are you giving it to me?"

He gave Remus a long look full of meaning. "For someone so smart, you sure are dumb sometimes."

"Oh," Remus echoed. He thought for a moment. "Oh!"

Finally, Sirius could practically see a light bulb go off in Remus' head as he absorbed the implication of everything that had just been said. That boy was so delightfully obtuse at times.

Remus raked a hand though his soft, brown hair and started speaking slowly in dawning realization. "Do you mean to tell me that all this work that I've done has been for myself?"

"Of course." Here Sirius smiled proudly. "Do you remember what you told me? A joke date for one of us and a romantic date to make a point. And that's exactly what this is."

Before Sirius could even blink he had an armful of squirming werewolf and his shoulders were pinned to the ground. "I cannot believe you. You. . .you. . .jerk!"

"But I'm your jerk," Sirius said softly gazing up into haunting gold eyes, completely still under the other boy.

Remus grew still as well and he stared down at his captive for a long, considering moment. "I suppose you are." And then he smiled.

That dearly loved face above Sirius lit up with happiness and it was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things that he had ever seen. He couldn't have stopped from grinning back at him even if he wanted to, certain that he had precisely the same look on his own face.

Remus continued beaming at him for an endlessly captivating minute before he recalled everything that had led up to this point and then schooled his features into a look of mock sternness. "But don't think that you're off the hook Sirius Black!" And with that Remus resorted to the sneakiest, most underhanded trick in the book. He began to tickle Sirius.

Pleas for mercy and shouts of laughter echoed through the room as they wrestled on the ground, their affection nearly a tangible thing as it filled the air. If this was all the retribution that Remus demanded then Sirius would count himself lucky, but he would also spend the rest of his life making things up to Remus if he had to. And he'd do it quite happily.

Because it wasn't the music or the flowers or the food that made everything perfect for Sirius. Those things didn't matter nearly as much as the precious being he held tenderly in his arms. And that was Remus Lupin.

It had always been just Remus.


End file.
